As digital technologies relentlessly reshape competition, products and services increasingly depend on software for differentiation and performance. Software is behind smartphones and other interfaces that guide consumer interactions; algorithms orchestrate productivity-boosting process automation; wearable devices loaded with software monitor the health and performance of athletes and patients alike. Despite the mission-critical nature of software, it gets surprisingly little attention in the C-suite. Most often, it is relegated to functional managers, several levels down the organization, who manage teams of programmers.
